The Green Party has been in the spotlight more and more in recent months. Nationally we have seen our leader on Question Time, Big Questions and BBC radio. Caroline Lucas and Natalie Bennett have written for The Guardian. We have heard a breadth of topics discussed from economics, to fracking, privatization to flood defense, welfare and benefits to population, climate change and the living wage. Nearer to home our profile is shining too. We in Midlands are getting some very positive press. I mention only a couple of highlights. The title of this piece is inspired by an article written in the Nottingham Post, 17th April ’13, entitled ‘Party of the Future’ in which Arnold North candidate Jim Norris was interviewed. In recent poll in which people focus on looking at policies, Green Party policies have been coming out as the public favourite. This is based on policies people want most, rather than choice based on the false perception there are only two / three political parties to choose from. As Jim Norris is quoted as saying in Nottingham Post “We are standing as an alternative to the three main parties and one which actually is thinking about the future and being sustainable. People have been receptive to what we are saying.”
Greens are a party growing, sometimes slowly, sometimes with great energy, always with determination and rooted values. A much repeated sentiment is that the Green Party is the party with ethical action and morality at its core. This has been said by those who were once staunch supporters of other parties. Our stance on alternatives to austerity and our at present lone political voice in the fight against climate change and destruction of environment are among other common praise. Councillor Richard Mallander and candidate Katharina Bottege have spoken publicly about HS2, Kat also recently on local radio interviewed about the plastic bag tax. We have been photographed as we joined and helped steward local protests against the horrors of the bedroom tax. Our striving towards equality is much noted, our commitment to a fair 50% of our candidates being women for example, is not going unnoticed when it stands alongside the other parties recent 21-30% women candidates. It is our action on the ground, in communities, that gains applause too. It also raises awareness of what we, as a party rooted in our communities, could achieve with more representation and more people choosing a party with the fair policies they want most, instead of choosing what they hate least.
In that shift away from putting up with complacency former Labour Party Chairman and Councillor Peter Nielsen is reported in Worcester News on 29th April ’13 as saying : “The Green Party has the ethical and moral dimension that has been lost in our traditional political parties, in particular the Labour Party. The Green Party sees environmental sustainability and social justice as inseparable. It is now 40 years old, and has matured into an impressive and credible political organisation that I am happy to join and in which I feel completely at home.”
So folks, voting cards at the ready, they are a ticket to the future. May 2nd is the next stop on the journey.
Further Information:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Greens-party-future/story-18729147-detail/story.html#axzz2QiROoObE
http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/i-guess-i-am-one-big-watermelon-green.html
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/10355420.Labour_leaders_shift_their_allegiance_to_the_Greens
East Midlands Green Party Blog 